The spillover: How the mess in the Gulf will wash up onto insurers

by David M. Raim and Carey G. Child

Insurers and Reinsurers Must Prepare For Complex and Costly Issues From Gulf Coast Oil Spill.

At the time of this writing more than ten weeks after the April 20 explosion and fire aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform that killed 11 people, injured at least 17 more and unleashed a torrent of oil into the Gulf of Mexico at least some progress is being reported in restraining the underwater gusher. Yet, this is far from the end for this crisis. Substantial uncertainty remains, bringing with it a number of challenges for insurers and reinsurers.